Welcome to
ESL Printables, the website where English Language teachers exchange resources: worksheets, lesson plans,  activities, etc.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If you want to download you have to send your own contributions.

 


 

 

 

ESL Forum:

Techniques and methods in Language Teaching

Games, activities and teaching ideas

Grammar and Linguistics

Teaching material

Concerning worksheets

Concerning powerpoints

Concerning online exercises

Make suggestions, report errors

Ask for help

Message board

 

ESL forum > Ask for help > Need some help.    

Need some help.



learner34
Turkey

Need some help.
 
Can you please answer these questions? Which one is used in each case? And why?
1. I was ............. Sam �s house on Friday.
    A) in      B) at
 
2. Mary lives ........... home with her parents.
    A) in      B) at
 
3. She was ........... the shopping mall with her parents.
    A) in      B) at
 
    THANKS IN ADVANCE.

3 Feb 2013      





libertybelle
United States

1. I was  at Sam �s house on Friday.

 
2. Mary lives  at home with her parents.

 
3. She was  at the shopping mall with her parents.
 
Someone else is probably better to explain than I.

3 Feb 2013     



kydlin
Czech Republic

Hello,

I think number 3 is She was in the shopping mall with her parents. Because she was inside in the building.


4 Feb 2013     



Matthew@ELSP
Japan

As LibertyBelle said, the answers are:

1= A or B, depending on context...

2= B
 
3= A or B, depending on context...
 
...and here is why:
 
"at" and "in" both show the place we are talking about.
 
"at" talks about the place and that area, the building and the area that the building is in, for example. "at" shows a wider area than "in", in your sentences.
 
As you are talking about buildings, "in" is better if you specifically want to say "inside" as opposed to "inside or maybe just in that area", for example:
 
[1] Where were you Friday night when I came to your house? I knocked the door but no-one answered.
[2] I was at home. I was probably in the garden.
 
The garden is NOT inside the house, but the garden is "part of the home" area.
 
In short, "at" usually shows a wider area than "in" if used with places like buildings, but of course we do say "I am in England rightnow", too, so it depends on context.

4 Feb 2013     



Jayho
Australia

Hi learner34
 
 
If you look at Murphy you �ll see that he states the following for your first two examples:
 
1. at: We say at somebody �s house
 
2. at: We say that somebody is at home/at work/at school/at uni etc
 
For number 3 both are possible and it depends on context
 
Cheers
 
Jayho

4 Feb 2013     



learner34
Turkey

Thanks for all your kind help.

7 Feb 2013